SPORTING soldier Shaun Gilsenan may now live hundreds of miles away - but his mum back home in Runcorn was all the inspiration needed to arrange a mammoth charity event.

Shaun was determined to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society in honour of mum Andrea, who suffers with the condition.

So he came up with the idea of organising a 24-hour karate-athon at the barracks where he is based in Guttersloh, Germany.

Having been involved in running a karate club for families living in the barracks, Shaun decided to challenge himself - and them - to the gruelling martial arts marathon, which eventually raised more than £6,000 for the cause.

He said: 'I had been wanting to do something to raise money for the MS Society for a long time, and was planning a charity run. But I came back from the Gulf with a leg injury so I couldn't do that.

'I came up with the idea of the karate marathon because I've been involved with running the club at the barracks for a while now and I thought it would be a bit different.

'But the biggest factor in deciding to do it was my mum.'

Shaun, originally from Grange-moor, was joined by 55 others in the challenge, the oldest being 48, the youngest his own son Gabriel, five.

And having raised an impressive £6,051, Shaun was flown back to Runcorn especially to present the cheque to charity representatives Anne Latham and Julie Henney, under the watchful eye of proud Andrea at the Town Hall.

Now the father-of-two plans more fundraisers - including a 588km run.

'I'm going to do the run as soon as I'm fully fit, that'll be the next thing, and after that, who knows?' he said. 'At least the run won't be as painful as 24 hours of karate!' he said.